


law of nature

by Killermanatee



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Astronomy, Chakotay thinks about his relationship with Kathryn, F/M, Falling In Love, Ficlet, Fluff, Poetic science, Poetry, Romance, free form, science and love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-11-29 11:01:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18222248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Killermanatee/pseuds/Killermanatee
Summary: What is it like to be in love?





	law of nature

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Manalyzer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Manalyzer/gifts), [Grace_Among_the_Stars](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grace_Among_the_Stars/gifts).



> Happy Birthday, Manalyzer, hope this feels like a gift. ;) 
> 
> And thank you very much to you Grace, for cheering me up with that delicious pic spam I really needed.

 

 

He doesn’t understand it right away.

Back before the nature of their relationship shifted, he thought he was just like the rest of the crew: caught by the pull of her charisma, while held in a distant orbit, never to meet. The image suited their roles, fit the paths they were meant to follow.

Even when their first kiss leads to more, to nights spent together and to shared vulnerability, he is never quite sure their respective coordinates have truly shifted. He doesn’t mind, not out of selflessness or sense of duty, but because he accepts that this is who she thinks she has to be. And he doesn’t need her to change to steady his new course.

At any rate, there are too many things to learn about her, to observe and study now that he is allowed to. Every last millimeter of her is pleading to be mapped out, explored and conquered, every aspect of her that was hidden to him before, going far beyond her body.

He watches her throw her head back in laughter, and observes her face reflect her dreams at night. He sees her blink the drowsiness from her eyes in the morning, and marvels as her pupils focus on him, lighting up with the spark of where they are, and who they now are to each other. 

He is fascinated, enticed, captivated, and possessed, and worries that he wants her too much, asks for too much, offers too much. Because he can’t get enough of her when she stops belonging to the ship and instead becomes _his_ , behind the closed doors, raw under her rank, both of them shifted to a different path. Every layer is peeled away, and underneath he finds this passionate creature, full of joy and lust and his alone, and not at all the fixed and static point she seemed to be.

It takes him a while to understand.

But it is there; in the light touch of her foot against his under the dinner table, the warmth of her hand on his thigh as they read, the brush of her fingers along his waist as she passes him, light kisses needing no reason on their own. There is no discussion necessary to know that remaining in full uniform is not an option. Instead this development is merely a natural course of action, allowing fingers to roam freely across bare skin.

She is unrestrained in her desires, just reaches for him, drawing patterns onto his body, running her nails over his skin, brushing her lips over every exposed inch.

In all these years they have spent together she has touched him in so many different ways, countless times, and yet it suddenly feels like none of them mattered. Not when he has finally learned what a difference it makes for the two of them to be truly _together_.

Her tangible presence becomes a constant in his life, their emotional connection expressed in physical proximity, slowly weaving its way into their lives outside their sanctuary; her hand on his arm, their fingers lightly entwined while they walk.

And finally he understands the gravitational field he thought he had collapsed into is not at all what it seemed to be. 

To the outside observer she shines as bright as ever, appearing distant and solitary. But he has seen her for who she is, for who they are together: neither one entity, nor separate, but astrometric binaries, their shared gravitational pull only to be told apart through meticulous study, but otherwise indistinguishable. And he doesn’t care that he is sometimes hidden by her glare, that he can only be inferred, if noticed at all because he is just as much part of what makes up their combined strength, no matter the outward appearance.  

In the end they are just like the laws of nature: independent from scientific analysis, yet valid and constant, indisputable and eternal. 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> This started simple enough and then consumed my entire Friday night and a good chunk of Saturday. Let's hope it was worth it. ;)  
> [BlackVelvet42](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackVelvet42/works), it is entirely because of you that I didn't jump out the window while editing this. You are the best. <3  
> [Miss_Mil](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Mil/works), thank you for the super fast betaing!  
> [Caladenia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caladenia/pseuds/Caladenia/works) thank you for the truly fantastic input!


End file.
